ime - — Date DBQ 6: ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION: ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO WORLD CULTURE Historical Context The Muslims inherited much from Greece, Rome, and India. They also adopted much from the people they conquered. Because of their tolerance of other cultures, the Muslims were able to advance scholarship in several areas to the highest level of that time. As a result, Muslim achievements stand out and have a lasting impact on world cultures. Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying documents in Part A. As you analyze the documents, take into account both the source of each document and the author's point of view. Be sure to do each of the following steps: 1. Carefully read the document-based question. Consider what you already know about this topic. How would you answer the question if you had no documents to examine? 2. Read each document carefully, underlining key phrases and . words that address the document-based question. You may also wish to use the margin to make brief notes. Answer the questions that follow each document before moving on to the next document. 8. Based on your own knowledge and on the information found in the documents, formulate a thesis that directly answers the document-based question. 4. Organize supportive and relevant information into a brief outline. 5. Write a well-organized essay proving your thesis. You should present your essay logically. Include information both from the documents and from your own knowledge beyond the documents. Question: What were the most important Islamic achievements? Why were the NR ee CRE Cee oC Re etc Penner nes eee TNE The following documents will help you understand Islamic achievements. Examine each document carefully. In the space provided, answer the uestion or questions that follow each document (continued) 1999, 2007 Walch, Publishing 4s Document-Based Assessment for Global HistoryName Date DBQ 6: ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION: ITS CONTRIBUTION! TO WORLD CULTURE Document 1 This document explains why Muslims of the Islamic Empire both preserved knowledge and extended it. Muslims had practical reasons for supporting the advancement of science. Rulers wanted qualified physicians treating their ills. The faithful... relied con mathematicians and astronomers to calculate the times for prayer and the direction of Mecca. .. . Their attitude reflected a deep-seated curiosity about the world and a quest for truth that reached back as far as ... Mohammed himself. After the fall of Rome in 476 8c, Europe entered a period of upheaval and chaos, an era in which scholarship suffered. ... In the early 800s, Caliph al-Ma'mun opened in Baghdad . .. the House of Wisdom. There, scholars of different cultures and beliefs worked ... translating texts from Greece, India, Persia, and elsewhere into Arabic. Source: Bech, Black, Krieger, Naylor, Shabaka, World History: Patterns of Interaction, McDougal Littell, 1999 (adapted) What were the reasons for Muslims’ interest in learning at this time in history? Document 2 ‘The Islamic capital of Cordova (in present-day Spain) was described by a contemporary as the “jewel of the world.” European scholars preferred Cordova’s Islamic schools and universities over other study sources in Europe. Besides the university library, Arab statisticians assure us the city boasted 37 libraries, numberless bookstores, 800 public schools .. . and a total population of 300,000. Its people enjoyed a high standard of living and refinement and walked on paved streets... all this at a time when hardly a town in Europe, Constantinople excepted, counted more than a few thousand inhabitants. Parisians and Londoners were still trudging on muddy, dark alleys Source: Philip Hitt, Capital Cities of Arab Islam, University of Minnesota Press, 1973 (adapted) Document-Based Assessment for “4 Global HistoryBie Date DBQ 6: ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION: ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO WORLD CULTURE What conditions in Cordova did this author cite as evidence of the high level of Islamic civilization and scholarship? Document 3 Physician al-Razi wrote a medical reference encyclopedia, the Comprehensive Book. He also wrote Treatise on Smallpox and Measles. Ibn Sina (Avicenna) wrote the five-volume The Canon of Medicine. These books were translated into Latin and other languages and influenced doctors in Europe. This document describes the influence of these Islamic books on European medicine. Medical Reference Books When Europeans learned that Muslims had preserved important medical texts, they wanted to translate the texts into Latin. In the 11th century, scholars traveled to libraries in places such as Toledo, Spain, where they began translating—but only after they learned to read Arabic. Through this process, European medical schools gained access to vital reference sources such as al-Razi’s Comprehensive Book and Ibn Sina’s The Canon of Medicine. Tbn Sina’s five-volume encyclopedia guided doctors of Europe and Southwest Asia for six centuries. For nearly 500 years, al-Qasim’s, work, The Method, which contained original drawings of some 200 medical tools, was the foremost textbook on surgery in Europe. Source: Bech, Black, Krieger, Naylor, Shabaka, World History: Patterns of Interaction, McDougal Littell, 1999 (adapted) What does this document tell you about Muslim medical knowledge at this time in history? How did it impact Western civilization? (continued) ©1999, 2007 Walch, Publishing 4s Document-Based Assessment for Global History